I have a best friend in Avowed, and that best friend is a two and a half feet long piece of metal that's permanently on fire. It's called Last Light of Day, and if there's a creature in the Living Lands it can't take down, I'm yet to meet it. The funny thing is, I found it in the first 4 hours of playing.
Beware! Light Avowed quest spoilers ahead. If you want to go in completely fresh, read no further.
Last Light of Day is a unique one-handed sword with two powerful enchantments—one that heals you every time you slay an enemy, and one that adds fire damage to every hit (naturally). That's a great boost in the early game, and I highly recommend making a beeline straight for it as soon as you can.
You can grab Last Light of Day at the end of the quest Dawntreader, which you'll pick up at the Aedyran Embassy once you get to the city of Paradis. You'll be sent there as part of the main quest anyway so it's no trouble to find. Outside, you should see a character called Ofryc—he'll ask you to search for a missing expedition and point towards its last known location.
It's also possible to just head straight to that location if you want and pick up the quest there—you'll find it in northern Dawnshore, just past the Northern Farms Beacon, at a place called Pilgrim's Path.
I won't say too much more about the quest itself—it's a great little dungeon crawl with some cool twists and turns, so it's worth experiencing unspoiled. But here's a hint: the sword belongs to the Oracle, so if that character happened to die somehow by the end of the quest, perhaps you could loot it off his body…
You'll definitely feel the advantage from Last Light of Day in early game skirmishes. But it could also stick with you deep into the game and even right to the end if you want. Like all weapons in Avowed, it can be upgraded through several tiers of quality, and you can even enhance that health-stealing enchantment, either making it heal you for more, or swapping it for a neat bonus to parries. In the Living Lands there are loads of weird plant and fungus monsters that are weak to fire, so it's a great tool to have by your side. And let's be honest with ourselves: there are few weapons cooler than a flaming sword.
